ADF5355 54-13600 MHz VFO

Because I had to use the ADF4351 board for my new BATV Portsdown DATV project, I decided to rebuild the ADF4351 VFO with a ADF5355 module, bought from e-bay. I also replaced the PIC by an Arduino Nano. The software (sketch) is based on the design of F6KBF. I have replaced the push buttons in the design by two encoders and I have added a menu.

The frequency range is automatically split over two output SMA connectors: 54-6800 MHz and 6800-13600 MHz

The last used frequency is automatic saved after 5 seconds of not tuning.

With the encoders you can tune at 100 MHz steps (left encoder) or at the selected stepsize (right encoder). But you can select the different menu functions as well.

Builders informationThe price of the board is much more expensive then a year ago (Thanks to Mr. Trump??). It increases from $66 to over $100!!

Using the ADF5355 module it’s very easy to build the VFO.
Because the ADF5355 is using 3.3Volt I/O you have to pull-down the output of the Arduino Nano 5Volt I/O by voltage dividers (see the schematic).
Programming can be done with the Arduino IDE and the Arduino Nano USB bus.

Caution:The total supply current is (depending on the RF divider and output power) between 160 and 250 mA. For that reason I added an aluminum cool block on the ADF5355 and I added a separate 6V regulator as well (mounted in the middle of the back panel of the enclosure).